ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter focuses on farm workers and dwellers on white-owned commercial farms in post-apartheid South Africa. It examines the effects of social redress policies on the working and living environments of workers and dwellers since 1994 and argues for greater synergy between the various forms of protective measures. The intricate links between the sites of production and social reproduction necessitates a holistic approach to land and labour issues. This synergy gains importance in the context of neo-liberalism and the market-driven premise of the allocation and distribution of resources. Neo-liberal land reforms and low minimum wage standards have failed to significantly alter working and living conditions of people living on commercial farms in South Africa. A contrast can be made between protectionist measures applying to labour standards and the weak measures that are supposed to safeguard tenure and land rights. Although women and men who sell their labour in agricultural labour markets have some protection from unfair labour practices, tenure and land redistribution policies have had little or no impact on their precarious tenure conditions. First, land redistribution and access to basic services are largely determined by the market, which effectively inhibits the rural poor from acquiring rights to land and improving their living conditions. Second, post-apartheid policies and legislation applicable to farm workers and dwellers tend to have narrow provisions and weak enforcement mechanisms that limit their effectiveness. The impact of land, tenure and labour policies in the farming sector has been uneven. The gaps in the policy framework, combined with prior inequalities, differences in employment status and income, mean that these measures will not benefit the poor equally and evenly. Instead, there are varying degrees of change in the working conditions of farm workers. A great degree of differentiation also characterizes the level of incorporation of farm workers into labour market institutions. This trend is largely shaped by labour market interventions such as labour laws. At the same time, there are greater degrees of marginalization and continuities with the past; a situation exacerbated by the limitations imposed by neo-liberal policy provisions, especially land and tenure policies and weak enforcement of socio-economic rights. This context raises questions about the
locality of farm workers and dwellers in the agrarian question (see Cousins this volume) and about the premise, scope and forms of rural social protective measures for the poor. It is counter-productive for the poor on commercial farms when land and labour are treated as isolated entities. For farm workers and dwellers to effectively tackle poverty, they need forms of protection that act in unison. This approach gains significance in the context of low pay and poor living and working conditions in the farming sector, the precarious tenure status of workers and dwellers and the threats of insecure food and livelihood sources. The chapter begins with a discussion about farm workers, dwellers, land and agrarian reforms. This is followed by a discussion on land reforms and their impact on the lives of farm workers and dwellers. Next, is a presentation of the minimum wage policy and its significance for the low-paying farming sector. The following sections examine the living conditions of workers and dwellers and the working conditions on commercial farms. The empirical information used in the chapter draws on the work of the East Cape Agricultural Research Project (ECARP) and covers the Cacadu district in the Eastern Cape (see Map 1). This district is the largest district municipality in the Eastern Cape, covering 34 per cent of the province with a population of 388,206. The dominant economic activity revolves around agriculture. Agricultural activities are diverse and include stock and game farming, vegetable and fruit, chicory, grain and dairy as well as a rapidly increasing eco-tourism sector dominated by game farming concerns. Overall, the relatively low and variable rainfall in the region favours farming enterprises devoted to grazing of stock or game, with arable farming restricted to the coastal areas or where irrigation water can be secured. In 2004, 34.4 per cent of the population was employed on commercial farms, making the agricultural sector a major employer in the district (www.cacadu.co. za/trade_and_investment/growth_sector.asp). There has been much concern voiced over the decline in agricultural labour because of the conversion of stock farms to game farms.
